Evaluation of the special nutrition programme in the tribal areas of Andhra Pradesh
Hanumantha Rao, D.; Satyanarayana, K.; Vijayaraghavan, K.; Gowrinath Sastry, J.; Nadamuni Naidu, A.; Swaminathan, M.C.
Indian Journal of Medical Research 63(5): 652-660
1975
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5340 PMID: 814085 Document Number: 571975
In Andhra Pradesh, the Government Nutrition Programme had been in operation for about 2 years. Food supplements based on cereals, pulses, nuts and "sugar/jaggery" were given daily to children aged 6 months to 6 years. The supplement provided energy about 300 kcal and 8 to 10 g protein. The 1908 children studied were 1201 from villages given the food supplements and 707 from other villages. Intake was measured by 24-h recall. Between 5% and 19% of the unsupplemented children showed one or more signs of protein and energy malnutrition. Among the children receiving the supplement, none to 4% showed such signs. Signs of vitamin B complex deficiency were generally seen in a larger proportion of supplemented children. The extra energy from the supplement could have aggravated the position in which there was already a deficiency of the B vitamins. Using the analysis of variance technique, the supplemented children were found to be significantly taller and heavier than the unsupplemented children of the same tribal group, p<0.01. There were wide variations between tribes in the extent to which the supplementary feeding had improved the nutritional status. The improvement was most marked in the supplemented Savara and Chenchu children. The protein and energy contents of the home diets of both supplemented and unsupplemented children were similar, indicating that the supplement had not become a substitute for the home diet.